A guest enjoys a massage at the Royal Hideaway Playacar in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. / Occidental Hotels & Resorts

by Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY

by Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica -- After a chilled-towel-and-mimosa welcome in the pillared, marble-floored lobby of the IBEROSTAR Grand Hotel Rose Hall, I scope out the pool area, where couples sprawl in chaises arranged two by two or sip cocktails at a swim-up bar.

Something's missing at this beachfront resort: the patter of little feet and chatter of splashing kids.

It's a 295-suite, adults-only all-inclusive, where those under 18 can't check in. All-inclusives - offering unlimited meals, activities and booze - are increasingly popular in these uncertain financial times, because you know the bottom line before you leave home. You can pay as little as $75 a person daily, or more than $500. Tipping is optional, but staffers at Sandals Resorts other than butlers may even be fired for accepting tips.

Adults-only all-inclusives, favored by the childless or parents who want time together, are on the rise. At the high end, they're ever more sumptuous, with butlers, swim-up suites and fancy spas (treatments usually cost extra). Even traditional resorts may now offer an all-inclusive option.

All-inclusives "appeal to luxury clients who don't want to bring out their wallets" on vacation, says Becky Veith of Becky Veith Travel in Erie, Pa., an expert in everything-included vacations.

The USA typically is the biggest feeder market for Caribbean all-inclusives, concentrated where labor costs are inexpensive, such as the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and St. Lucia. Sandals and Secrets are popular. Veith's clients also like the Jamaica IBEROSTAR Grand property, now ranked No. 1 in Montego Bay by TripAdvisor users.

Pampering is covered

I get an idea what the raves are about shortly after check-in there, when the phone in my suite rings.

"Hello, madame. This is your butler, Denston."

"There must be some mistake," I say, since I have booked the least-expensive accommodation. Only there isn't: Every guest here gets butlers.

Within five minutes, Denston Hudson, resplendent in bow tie, white shirt and gold- and black-striped vest, arrives to ask if he can unpack (no thanks, too personal), bring a special pillow (a down one, please) make a reservation at one of the resort's four specialty restaurants (the French one, 7 p.m.), uncork a bottle of wine (maybe later). All that is covered in the resort's daily rate (starting at about $300 a person, double, this January day), as is 24-hour room service and a stocked minibar, from chips to Absolut vodka, that can be replenished at no charge.

Down the road is another popular adult all-inclusive: Sandals Royal Caribbean, which Prince Harry visited last year. It's an older, more traditional Jamaican resort with a small private island where you can sunbathe in the buff. Rates at the 14 Sandals properties - in Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Lucia and Antigua - start at about $265-a-person daily in winter high season. (Air/lodging packages from a travel agent or tour operator such as Apple Vacations or Funjet Vacations can be good deals.)

Demand is up for Sandals' butler service (it's only in select room categories) and for accommodations such as "Millionaire Suites," says Sandals CEO Adam Stewart, 31. They usually cost $700 and up per person a day and include amenities such as private plunge pools.

Sitting in Sandals cottage-style corporate headquarters in Montego Bay, with the smell of night jasmine wafting in, Stewart - casual in jeans and yellow Oxford shirt and flashing a Tom Cruise smile - explains that today's guests expect more. "No one ever comes into a car dealership and says, 'I need less luxury,' " he says by way of illustration. "The world has evolved."

Resorts join the luxe crowd

And so has the world of all-inclusives.

In the Caribbean, chains from Spain including IBEROSTAR and Paradisus have helped ramp up the opulence of adult all-inclusives - and give brands such as Sandals, SuperClubs (known for Negril's racy Hedonism II) and Couples a run for the money. Royal Hideaway Playacar in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, from Spanish Occidental Hotels& Resorts, was the first adult all-inclusive to win a five-diamond rating from AAA.

Bernard Wyss, general manager of Paradisus' two Playa del Carmen resorts on Mexico's Riviera Maya and Paradisus' Area VP, says all-inclusives are casting off an image as solely for budgeters. Paradisus has butlers in its Royal Service adult sections and launched an initiative to make its restaurants competitive with those of traditional luxury resorts.

Its first all-adult property, year-old Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla, has opened Passion, a collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Martín Berasategui. Kitchen staff trained with the chef in Spain.

Stewart calls what's happening on Jamaica "the Spanish invasion," which has kept rates lower than he'd like. Still, Sandals takes pride in its "Luxury Included" slogan, the fact that it doesn't require guests to wear hospital-like wristbands to identify them and that it logs more than 40% return guests. Stewart, son of hard-charging Sandals founder Gordon "Butch" Stewart, monitors guest comments daily and shows off a TripAdvisor "Certificate of Excellence" that Sandals Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios just received.

Sandals, like competitors, does a booming business in customized weddings. A simple ceremony/reception is free with a six-night stay. Kids can attend, but must stay elsewhere.

A 75-minute drive from Montego Bay at popular Sandals Negril on a recent Wednesday, staffers set up tables under passion-pink bougainvillea for a garden reception after a beach wedding.

Back at the IBEROSTAR Grand, a planner is helping a bride who is having difficulty detaching the train of her gown before the reception. And Grand general manager Daniel Llinás is explaining that guests appreciate "kids not running all over the place" - though families are welcome at the two adjoining IBEROSTAR resorts.

Meanwhile, a dinner of Lobster Thermidor at the Grand's Es Palau gourmet restaurant is fine, not divine. Better to be at the beach barbecue buffet, where a steel band plays and engaging servers dish up Jamaican specialties, urging, "Try this, mon."

With Bob Marley easy on the ears and jerk chicken tangy on the tongue at a table on the sand, pleasure is pervasive - and already paid for.